Over the last three to five years, Bristol schools have taken productive steps to improve the engagement of parents although they ought to do more if they are to enable pupils remove hurdles to their advancement. The current engagement strategies, for example, should be looked at thoroughly and further developed to make schools be more democratically governed, but equally more responsive to the diverse needs of the local community.

A former Khat addict claimed that the effects of khat are so severe that it makes users become easy prey for Al-Shabaab recruiters. Abukar Awale appears to describe a process of slow deterioration of self-worth that eventually delivers vulnerable addicts into the hands of ready and waiting recruiters lurking around mafrishes (Khat cafes)…This view was further sensationalized and advanced by a Bristol based Somali NGO leader who on BBC Radio Bristol claimed that he had evidence, proving that Al- Shabaab was actively recruiting similar lost young souls in Bristol. The existence of evidence for both of these claims has not being made public – if they actually exist – by police and, in any case, both men ought to have gone to the authorities first to disclose it before approaching the media. Because going to the media first could have easily driven dangerous terrorist to underground and endangered civilian lives.

Most of the Somali people in Ireland lived in the capital Dublin in privately rented accommodation in close proximity to each other and a few resided in the Mosney refugee centre which is one of the largest privately run refugee camps in Europe. Many of them were still awaiting the decision of their immigration claim which they collectively thought was taking “forever” and hampering their ability to support themselves. Even those that have been successful in their immigration applications were only given leave that can be extended yearly and does not give them the full refugee status which would allow them under the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention to bring their families to join them.

Mental health issues are more prevalent in some groups than others and members of these groups tend to be the most vulnerable in society. These include the homeless, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, the disabled and those subject to immigration control or who are seeking asylum in the UK.

Many Somalis in the UK suffer from mental illness and need support, advice and guidance in order to recover from it.